The most recent ridership declines in many cities began around 2010, as the economy recovered and may have allowed some to buy new cars or cover the cost of gas. Factors vary from city to city, such as the quality of transit service and the availability or frequency of convenient routes. city - but it’s unclear how much of a role the tech companies have played in that drop. They warned that public transit agencies would end up strapped for cash and increasingly serving the poor.Īs Uber and Lyft have grown, transit ridership has fallen in nearly every major U.S. But he said he wants it to adopt a similar mentality.īut the explosive growth of the companies - and their fast adoption by younger, higher-educated and more affluent city residents - caused hand-wringing by transportation experts and public transit advocates who feared Uber and Lyft were luring away riders from subways, trains and buses. Gary Thomas, president and executive director of DART, said the transit agency has a different culture and pace than a company like Uber. When that happens, we want to make sure that you have that option at your fingertips." Transit, a lot of times, it could be the most efficient or it could be the most affordable option for you. "When you come to the Uber app, you are trying to go from point A to point B. "We want to make sure we do the best thing for our riders," said Nirveek De, Uber's head of product for transit agency solutions. Gary Thomas, president and executive director of Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) DART and Uber officials say they want to work together to give riders quicker and cheaper ways to get around - in the hopes that it will drive up business for both of them. With the new contract, DART and Uber are embracing a vision of public transit and ride hailing as complementary rather than competitive. Department of Transportation, awarded a total of $8 million to transit agencies to spark experimentation with on-demand mobility.
The federal agency, which is part of the U.S. About half of the funding is from DART, and the other half is from a $1.2 million Federal Transit Administration grant. DART signed a one-year contract with the San Francisco-based tech giant that will cost up to about $1.15 million, depending on the number of rides and miles driven.